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Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009

I can remember sitting at a friend's kitchen table and hearing "Thriller" for the first time. The synthesizers, the beat, that creepy voice telling a tale of ghouls "getting down" - I was mesmerized. And even though I was pretty young at the time, that memory has stayed with me for over twenty years.

I bet you have a similar story to tell, and fond memories of the childhood icon who had us wearing silver gloves and practicing our moon walk. So in the spirit of the widespread MJ tributes out there today (and because so many of you asked) here are a few Michael Jackson cakes:

The year was 1984, and everyone at the party was soooo jealous.

Care posted this over at Craftin' on the Couch. It's her sixth birthday cake, and I think you can see it was love at first sight. :)

Moving on to more recent creations...

Oddly enough, at a museum near Budapest there is a life-sized Michael Jackson statue made from marzipan:

Marzipan is an almond paste, by the way. So this isn't technically a cake, but it IS edible - technically. That's my excuse for including it, anyway.

And lastly, this morning Daun D. sent me the tribute cake her office ordered:

Although with all that airbrushing, cracked icing, improper spacing, and head-scratching yellow and gray color combo, it looks like a tribute to Cake Wrecks as well as to the King of Pop. Which is only appropriate, I suppose.

Plus, Daun's office had a moon walk contest, complete with prizes for the winners. See, now that is just awesome. In fact, if you're reading this at work I think you should organize moon walk-offs immediately. And take lots of video, too; you never know when your friends might need to blackmail you.

And finally, here's a snippet of one of my all-time favorite MJ incarnations: Captain Eo. (This was a 3D film at Disney, and I still hold out hope that they'll bring it back, even if just for a few days.)

I actually put the Captain EO video on my iPod while ago so I could watch it whenever I want. I remember seeing it at Disneyland when I was little and LOVING IT!!! :-) It's probably my earliest memory of MJ.

I went to Captain EO opening day weekend at Disneyland! It was the most coolest awesomest brilliantest thing that a middle schooler could do back in the day. Always best to remember the good parts of a life, I agree. Best tribute post I've seen today.

Great tribute! I actually came here because I was a little sad at all of the negative MJ stuff that was starting to appear. I'm glad you did a lovely tasteful tribue. It's even better because it is cake.

Thank you for including a tribute today. I stayed up last night watching the tributes on MTV and BET. I also remember watching Captain EO on my very first Disney trip. I was already a Jackson 5 fan (and at age 7 that was considered odd) so I was very excited to see him on screen! I loved it then and have been dying to see it again, thanks for posting a link to it as well! I think they should run it again as a tribute as well!

I saw Captain Eo at Epcot just after it came out. It was very cool and I distinctly remember keeping the plastic purple 3D glasses we were supposed to drop in the buckets on the way out. I used to make up routines to all MJ's songs in the late 80s.

I grew up in Southern California and Captain EO was my FAVORITE throughout childhood. I was heartbroken when it was replaced. I was just making my husband watch the video on YouTube the other day, as he accused me of making it up. Goodbye MJ!

When I was young, my family took me into the Captain Eo thing. Unfortunately, as soon as Michael appeared, I started screaming my head off and they had to remove me.Which was actually sort of weird, as I adored him as a kid.There's my fondest memory!

In grade 4 I wanted to be Mrs. Jackson. I would sit in my room at night with the lights off and put on Thriller. The sound effects would scare me at the beginning and then I would get up and dance. He was such a big part of my childhood!

confusion & despair will do it & you cant push a seven year old to do that much, not that hard, not in a context he cant understand & can never escape. poor thing. poor thing. me, i'm older--but not as old as MJ. i remember being a little kid & hearing ABC for the first time--& there was a cartoon, too, wasnt there? but his pure voice as a child--nothing, nobody could match it. poor thing. my heart goes out.

Thank you for a nice tribute. MJs music is the soundtrack of my childhood in the late 80's-early 90's and those memories will keep MJ alive for me. I am sorry for all his problems and dramas as they took a lot away from the amazing person who single-handedly transformed the music scene and continues to come out in artists like Beyonce, Usher, Chris Brown, Rhianna.. etc. He influenced everyone in one way or another and I pray that he is resting in peace.

God Bless You Michael.

Also, Farrah.. I was born in '82 so I don't have the fond memories of her as I do MJ but I do think she was a fantastic talent and she will be missed..

RIP to you both.

PS- to those of you asking about Ferrah and where are tribute is.. maybe the creater of this site doesn't have the memories of Farrah like she does MJ. She can post what she wants.

I think my first Micheal Jackson memory is this,cause Im young.I was talking about him with my mom,and she told me he was black.I,in my young state of mind said"Micheal Jakcsons black?Noo waayy??""

the second,more fun memory,is of me and my friend ryan backstage at a drama play,listening to his ipod,me hearing the song black and white for the first time,in an un parodied state.It was such a cool song.

and then theres the first hearing and seeing of videos such as thriller*Which is awesome,we had an eighth grade formal this year,and our group went up and reuqested thriller,and everyone did the thriller dance.The parents were impressed)We are the world(That is such a cool song)

and Billie Jean,which i had never heard tilll today.

and last but not least,in social studies in seventh grade,we had to design a continent.the teacher,an eccentric,awesome man,suggested someone do a MJ cake,cause they liked micheal jackson,and he was getting into it,saying Billie Jean could be mayor,and stuff.The kid acutally did it

Michael J and I were born the same year. I remember when I was in teeny-bopper mode, I was a major Jackson 5 fan. My room was covered in J5 posters. I even saw them in concert. Also, there were very specific dance moves for all their songs. My cousins and I were very synchronized in our dance stylings, I can assure you of that.

I am sorry, but I just can't resist saying what needs to be said [I'll try to keep it nice].

Jacko may have been a self-proclaimed "King of Pop", and sure he made some good music back in the day.

But these days he was just a child "abuser" [to put it nicely] and a weirdo for some reason people still supported and adored. We all know where he's going for the things he did. You can't forget that people.

That's all I have to say.

Who I really care about? Farrah Fawcett. She died the same day but did she get much media coverage? No. And she was a good person.

And, did anyone else find it even a little funny, albeit morbidly so, that the cake with the horribly cracked icing, airbrushing, etc had the words arranged so it looked like "The King of Pop...Beat It" (as in "The King of Pop [has] beat it [left the premises]" not anything dirty). His life was so sad...so very sad.

Billy Jean was my favorite song in first grade, although I totally misheard the lyrics and had no idea what it was about. I had friends who were obsessed with Captain EO, but I kind of lost interest after Thriller.

Shmee said Er, this question is a bit off topic, but...can marzipan be used in place of fondont? I hate fondont.

Yes, and it often is in Finland. In fact, "marzipan" is often used to refer to fondant even if there's no actual almond paste in it (therefore making it not marzipan). One thing about marzipan though: you have to really like almonds, or you probably won't like it any better than fondant.

i seriously doubt you'll let this through, but for me michael jackson died years ago. i'm just not a big enough fan apparently to forgive him his indiscretions - maybe it's a result of the sexual abuse i suffered at the hands of a pedophile when i was a child. *sigh* i still love the cake wrecks blog but really, i don't care that he died and i won't miss him. i feel very sorry for the folks who will miss him but please, let this be the ONLY entry paying tribute to this decidedly iffy celebrity. i and the many other victims of pedophiles out here will surely appreciate it.

Ah! Captain EO!I was born in 1982, so I kind of missed out on Michael in his prime (I was busy idolizing She-ra). The most I can remember is liking "I'm bad" but probably just because my brothers sang it a lot bc they WERE indeed bad. Anywho, my most vivid Michael memory is CAPTAIN EO! I went to Disney World around 4 or 5 and watched that 3-D movie (which I really thought was a full-length feature all these years since I was so scarred). The whole time I asked my brothers "Is that a boy or a girl??" And even though they told me he was a boy, I still asked. Anywho, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that oddity. For some reason on the day he dies that's what I remembered the most and was so happy to see youtube come through for me!

This is a time to grief a WONDERFUL artist in Pop Culture. Even Though I Never Like Most Of His Music, I Fee l Empty that Michael Jackson is DEAD! Well, even though he has died. Michael Jackson, the MARZIPAN version Lives On!

What a great tribute! I remember my cousin babysitting my sister and me and sending me to my room every time the "Thriller" video came on- she didn't want me having nightmares! Good memory... RIP MJ...

when michael jackson was about twelve years old, jmmy page was twenty nine. his girlfriend was thirteen. everyone knew this. it was in magazines. @more or less the same time the lyrics to the rolling stones "stray cat blues" ["yes i can see that yr fifteen years old, no i dont want yr i.d."] i believe were printed on the album jacket. how many fourteen year olds do you think he watched throw themselves, successfully, @his older brothers--& probably even himself. cos this was michael jackson's context. i'm a music scene person so i'm a little bit more attuned but, so help me, it was the world's context. i'm not gonna put a value judgement on it, but i remember the seventies [they ended, better years, before i was old enough to drive] but i simply cannot say michael jackson is going to burn for eternity. the whole idea makes me feel horrible. there are a lot of people, tho probably not here, yakking the same business who are currently burning w/ hypocrisy.

Holy Moly! I totally forgot about Captain EO! Thanks so much for posting this! I now remember going to Disneyland and seeing this in 3D!!! It was loads of fun! What a blast from the past! Awesome!I grew up in the OC so we were at Disneyland quite frequently.....one time we saw MJ there, just walking around all dressed up in his Thriller clothes!

I have the fondest memories of being *so cool* because my mom rented 'The making of Thriller" for my slumber party. We watched in a gazillion times trying to learn the dances. Ahh, MJ you ended up doing some weird sh*t but you made some awesome music!

Two of my friends and I got roped into making our high school graduation video in 2005. Among the various things featured, we got about half our class (30-something out of 60) to do the dance from Thriller in an evening. We also walked out of the ceremony to "Beat It", which was delightful.

As much weirdness that has been going on with MJ, I was quite shocked that he had passed. It actually took a minute or two to sink in! I was a total fan of his music in the 80's. This was definately a great tribute. RIP Michael.

Also, the passing of Farrah sucks too. At least her pain (apparently Anal cancer is EXTREMELY painful, not that others aren't) is over. She no longer has to suffer and hopefully is now at peace. The loss to her family is the worst, though. She fought hard and is a beautiful and brave woman. The loss to her fans and others that loved her sucks as well. RIP Farrah!

Shmee, marzinpan it the best! I gew up in Denmark and when I moved to the states I went to a wedding with a beautifull cake. How i was dying to taste that cake. A cake that pretty was Obviously from a very good bakery. to my horror I had my first runin with a very typical american culture consept that I've found all through the structure but best defined in cake. As long as it looks pretty who cares about the inside.Anywho, I had never had fondantbefore and I actually ended up throughing this borring plain white cakemis thing with nasty tasting frosting on it in the trash. My previous experiences with wedding cakes was quite different. When shopping for a cake you would go from bakery to bakery and taste their specialty wedding cakes until you found the one you liked the best. Then if you were lucky or If the backery was indeed a very good one you would notonly get a delicious cake but allso a very beautifull one. And for all the MJ fan who wants to hate on me because this is not about him, I'm sorry but this is a blog about cake after all.

YUCK. There is no way, shape or form in which I would ever want to eat Michael Jackson, dead or alive. I was never a fan. The best thing I can say is let the dude rest in peace and...leave the rest of us in peace, O Great and Loud Media.

I was never more than a casual MJ fan. The most that I felt was sadness. because as we watched him turn from a handsome black man into a freaky white woman it occurred to me that he was trying to completely irradicate the person that he had been. He never had a chance.

While I cannot forget what the later years made of him, I also cannot forget that little boy who sang so well and so happily. Maybe that little boy is free again.

First, those cakes are awesome. I'm sad that he's gone. I'm sad that he never got to show the world that he still had it in him, because from the couple of photos I've seen, he looked like he was ready and able to make a real full-on comeback, and that would have been amazing.

He was starting to look like a person again, and I think that goes a long way to show how much the human spirit and body can triumph. I mean, he had been through more trials (figurative and literal) and tribulations than nearly anyone on this Earth. Some were dealt to him by his own hand and others foisted upon him by his own family, the media, and others trying to benefit from his money, talent, and fame. But he was starting to really overcome that, and that should be applauded and celebrated along with the sadness and mourning. I hope his children can find some peace in this time, because remember, he was their only parent. Regardless of biology, if that's to be believed.

As far as Farrah Fawcett, I think the reason that Michael is taking some of the spotlight away from her is simply because everyone knew she was sick. Everyone had a chance to start the mourning for her, even if they *hoped* she would recover. Michael's death was so sudden and unexpected, that of course people are more shocked and curious, and that combined with the sadness that such a big icon is gone, people at the moment are simply trying to mourn and figure out what happened all at the same time right now. Over time, I'm sure that both of them (as well as the other celebrities who have passed recently, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, etc.) will all have their chance to be mourned separately by those who loved them, both fans and family.

Also, though I know many people don't necessarily have fond feelings towards Michael (to each their own), I do want to point out one thing that I still see mentioned frequently.

Michael may have chosen to mess with his own face, but his skin color change had nothing to do with wanting to 'not be black', or any other cosmetic issue. He had a disease called Vitiligo with slowly destroys the pigment of the skin, usually in splotches.

A 'treatment' of this disease is to basically give up and 'bleach' the rest of the skin (so as not to have random odd patches of white all over), which essentially leaves the person with the skin of an albino. Which is in part why he always had umbrellas (taking away the pigment can leave the person very susceptible to serious sunburns, no matter how much sunscreen is applied, and it can leave their skin very sensitive).

Now, as I haven't actually seen anything confirming he actually had the skin bleaching treatments (he may well have had just a severe case which bleached his skin completely and on it's own), but an educated guess would be that he did.

about two weeks ago was the one year anniversary of jacko's death and, an avid disney lover, i was at the park watching captain eo. the audience and the crowd were ridiculous! it seems as the the king of pop will never really die for his fans.

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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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